The Reborn
by Cobra762
Summary: Two soldiers are trapped in the city when their post is overrun. Now, they have to make it to somewhere safe... Or safer than where they are. M for violence and language.
1. Bad News

"Add one." The man whispered to his comrade as the body dropped to the ground. A .308 caliber round had just passed neatly through its forehead.

"We've got one to the right. Looks like a live one." The second said.

The first swung his rifle slightly and gazed at the target in his scope. An older woman was running down the street as she was pursued by two of what the government had deemed "Infected."

The shooter adjusted his aim and squeezed off two rounds in quick succession. Both Infected hit the ground, their brains just a red mist in the air that quickly disappeared. The shooter smirked slightly. He turned to watch the woman turn to see the two bodies. Then, in a blur, she disappeared from his scope.

Looking up, he saw her on the ground being torn apart by another one. "Goddammit. We try to save them, but they just keep fucking coming!" He exclaimed in a hushed tone.

"Not your fault, man. No one saw this coming. Oh, may as well drop both of them before both get up."

The shooter aimed, then fired twice quickly, once again, killing the Infected that had attacked, and putting a round through the woman's corpse's head.

He looked up from his scope and dropped the magazine from the Heckler and Koch PSG-1 sniper rifle he was using. He loaded another one. The roof of the convenience store he and his spotter were both currently laying prone on was barren except for a small pile of .308 casings nearby.

"So Reaper, uh, when was that chopper supposed to come get us?" The spotter asked.

"Well, Griff, I think we were supposed to call it when we had mopped up this sector. Unfortunately, that could take a little while longer than," He fired a round, dropping another Infected, "Previously expected." He finished.

He looked up from his rifle sight once more and looked around. The area was now totally empty, apart from the field of dead bodies laying on the pavement. Reaper looked around the area, getting a better sense of where they were exactly.

He could see the city in the distance, its skyscrapers rising into the clouds. Or was that smoke? It was hard to tell now. His earpiece gave a short crackle.

"Reaper, Griffin, you two still out there?" A voice asked.

Reaper pressed the PTT button on his shoulder. "Roger that. We're still here. Area is clear to the eye. Possibly a few left in the buildings. Unknown at this time."

"Gotcha, Reaper. Pick up is in bound. ETA, four minutes. Get to the evac zone and wait there." The voice told him.

"Roger. Heading there now." Reaper stood up. He slung the PSG-1 over his shoulder and picked up an M4 off the roof. Griffin stood also, loading his own M4. The two helped each other off the roof, Reaper laying belly down at the edge and swinging Griffin down. Griffin then stood there as Reaper stood on his shoulders and jumped down.

They were doing everything possible not to injure themselves in any way. They needed to be at the top of their game now. The infection had spread. Quickly. It was now an epidemic, but teams had been dispatched to every area and seemed to be dealing rather well. At least, that's what they were told.

Reaper and Griffin moved swiftly to the corner across the street and knelt back to back, their rifles aimed and ready, as they watched for their ride and any potential threats. They sat there for almost five minutes, moving only to change their view.

Finally the radio crackled again. "Reaper? Griffin?" The voice asked again.

"This is Griffin. Go ahead."

"We've got bad news. Your ride just ran into major resistance. Big crowd of Infected. Possibly one hundred to a hundred and twenty. They had to turn back."

Griffin looked at Reaper, then pressed his PTT button. "Well, what about aerial evac?"

"Negative. That's not gonna happen. All choppers are otherwise engaged."

"Dude, this isn't good." Reaper said from behind Griffin, who turned to look. They saw truck slide around the corner and come racing towards them. Behind it, a small crowd of ten or fifteen infected were dashing after it.

The truck stopped right beside the two soldiers and the door opened. A younger man got out and looked at them. "You're army guys, right? You have to help me! Those things are after me! They bit my arm, here, see? I need like, a doctor or something!" He begged.

Reaper looked at Griffin, who returned the look. A sharp crack later, the two were in the truck and driving down the street at a high speed. "Well Ray, we've got ourselves our own ride. No need to worry about us now." Griffin said into his radio as he sat in the window of the truck, aiming with his rifle in case any Infected came near.

"Ray, can you give us directions outta here? We're lost in suburbia." Reaper asked over the radio as he slowed at an intersection that looked slightly familiar.

"Well, from your position, I'm gonna say that you should turn ri- Oh my god!" There was a sound of scuffling over the radio, as well as some moaning.

"Everyone! Do not return to the base! We've been overrun!" Ray yelled into the radio finally as gunfire erupted in the background. "I repeat! Do _not_ return to base!"

"Well shit, that puts a crimp in our plans, don't it?" Griffin said as he slid back into the truck.

"Indeed it does, Griff... Indeed it does." Reaper said as he slammed on the brakes and made a tight turn down a street.

"Do you even know where we're going?" His comrade asked.

"Yup. I remember seeing this street when we were flying over. It leads back towards the city."

"I thought we didn't want to go back there? Remember those big crowds of Infected? Yeah, those. They wanna eat us." He said, as if explaining the situation to someone that was just coming into the picture.

"I know. But there's no way I'm sticking out here. Plus our base is just a forward operating post. We'll head for Fort Bragg or something."

"Dude, that's like, 200 miles away."

"I know. Hang on!" Reaper shouted as he hit the brakes. In front of them, several cars blocked the road and there were several zombies. "Think we can run it?" He asked.

Griffin shrugged. "Maybe. I dunno, this little truck doesn't seem solid enough to run through those cars all too easily."

Reaper gave no answer. Instead, he floored the gas, spinning the tires and heading towards the barricade. The Infected looked up and immediately started quickly towards the truck that was bearing down on them.

"You know what I'm thinking?" Reaper asked. Griffin just smiled and nodded. He aimed out the window and fired two rounds, taking out one of the Infected's knees, causing it to drop to its hands.

Pulling the hand brake, Reaper swung out the rear end of the truck. The rear end clipped the Infected's head hard, knocking it clean off. As Reaper stepped on the gas again, Griffin resumed firing at the other Infected.

The truck spun around the barricade and kept on its original course. Reaper tried the radio, but what turned on was a CD. A bubblegum pop song began playing and the soldier glared at the CD player. Griffin looked over at him, watching what his comrade was going to do.

As the truck turned a corner sharply, a CD flew out the open driver's window and stuck in the chest of one of the Infected that was slowly trying to scuffle towards the truck.

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Well, I hope you like this one. I've been wanting to write a DOTD fic for a while now. Let's hope I can keep your interests with this one. Next update coming soon.

**WEAPONRY**

PSG-1: A magazine-fed, .308 caliber sniper rifle. Made by Heckler and Koch (H&K) of Germany, this rifle is highly accurate. It is used by miltary and police units in several countries.

M4: A magazine-fed, 5.56mm assault rifle. The M4 is the primary assault rifle used by Special Forces groups in the United States and several other countries, along with many regular military and police units. It can have many attachments added on to it, such as sights, grenade launchers, laser, lights, etc.

Any additional information can be added here. Ask if you need!


	2. A Pleasant Drive

Thanks to black leather for her review. Hope you enjoy this. Oh, and I'll say this once and only once. I don't own anything except MOST of the characters and the storyline. Nothing more.

As they drove, several of the Infected were runnng after them. Reaper looked into the mirror. "I didn't know they could run that fast? I thought zombies were all like, shuffle-shuffle."

Griffin shrugged. "Guess the guy that wrote the Zombie Survival Guide was wrong?"

Reaper shrugged, then started to slow down. "Dude, what does that look like to you?" He asked, motioning forward.

Griffin followed Reaper's gaze and frowned. "Uh... Some chick in her underwear in a tree?"

Indeed, in front of them, a woman, in nothing but her underwear was sitting in a tree with several Infected biting up at her. When she saw the truck she started waving her arms and screaming at them.

Reaper sighed. "Looks like we're picking up a survivor."

He gunned the gas and jumped the curb. The Infected all looked towards the roaring engine and they started to run towards it, sensing fresh pray. Reaper shifted gears and looked at the speedometer. Sixty miles an hour. Pretty good considering the short distance since he had floored the gas.

"Ready?" He asked Griffin, who readied his M4.

Once more jamming on the handbrake, the truck turned sideways in a sliding loop. As soon as Griffin's window faced the Infected, he opened fire. Bodies fell like leaves in autumn. After the Infected were all wiped out and the bullets stopped flying (no more than three seconds), the woman smiled in relief, then noticed that the truck was still sliding quickly towards the tree she was in.

"Shit." She muttered, getting ready to jump out.

But Reaper had it under control. As he felt the rear tires make contact with the pavement, he jammed the truck into reverse and floored the gas once more.

The tires gained a little traction and pulled the truck back onto the road just as it went by the tree, missing it by less than a foot. It continued to spin for a moment, smoke pouring from the tires as they spun, trying to gain grip.

Finally the truck slowed to a stop, then rolled back towards where the woman was still in the tree. Both soldiers got out, weapons at the ready. Reaper looked up at the woman and slung his rifle over his shoulder with the PSG-1.

"Jump down, ma'am!" He called up. The woman thought about climbing down herself, but realized that she would most likely slip and fall in her high-heels.

So, she jumped down and the soldier caught her. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. I... What are you doing?" She asked as the soldier started checking her body, turning her around himself.

"She's clean." He called to his partner, who was now standing in the bed of the truck, looking for targets.

"What? What do you mean?" She asked.

"You haven't been bitten." Reaper explained.

"Well you could've just asked." She said.

Reaper pressed the PTT button. "Ray, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here, Reaper. Me and some of the other guys locked ourselves in the radio room. What is it?"

"We've got a survivor. Blonde, blue eyes, five foot five. Any call-ins?"

"Call-ins?" The woman asked.

"A lot of survivors are calling in missing family members. This makes it easier for us to get you back to your family and what not." Reaper explained.

"Oh." Was all the woman said. Then she shivered.

"Reaper, you have no clue how many people that encompasses," Came the reply.

"Oh. Well, never mind then. We'll talk about it later." He said.

"Reaper, we've got twelve, bearing down on us now." Griffin said, aiming through his ACOG 4x sight.

Reaper opened the door to the truck and nodded in to the cab. "Get in." He said. The girl nodded and got in, sliding to the middle of the bench seat. Reaper and Griffin got in quickly.

Turning the truck around on the road, they continued to drive. "So, uh, what's with the, uh, underwear?" Reaper asked as they drove.

The woman looked down and blushed. "Oh. Well, this kinda happened early this morning here. I was just starting to get ready for work, and... Well, I didn't get much further than this."

"I see. What's your name?"

"I'm Ashley."

"I'm Reaper. That's Griffin." The soldier said, turning off down a street and looking around, trying to get his bearings. "Where the hell are we?"

The blonde pointed to the right. "You want to turn here. It'll take you out to the freeway and from there it's either downtown or any other suburb."

"Well, one thing's for sure, we don't exactly want to head downtown." Griffin stated.

"Why not? Is it that bad?" Ashley asked.

"You have no idea."

Ashley shivered again. "You're cold?" Reaper asked and the blonde nodded.

"I've been like this all day. I never had time to grab anything else."

After a moment, the truck pulled over. Reaching to his right thigh, he drew a Heckler and Koch Mark 23 and handed it to the blonde. "Get on the floor and lock the doors, okay? We'll be back in about five minutes."

"You're leaving me? Here? Why?"

"You'll see. Just make sure to shoot anything that comes for the truck. Except us." Reaper said, getting out of the truck. Ashley looked over at Griffin, who shrugged and followed his comrade.

Ashley locked both doors and sat down on the floor, looking at the gun. Then she huffed. "What are they doing?" She wondered, peeking up over the door and then she immediately sat down again when she saw a zombie shuffle past.

"I can wait." She decided.

Outside of the truck, the two soldiers had just walked through the broken glass of the door to a small shop.

"Reaper, what are we doing? Did you see a survivor?" Griffin whispered.

"No. Let's clear this place. We'll do it quietly though. I don't want to draw the attention of any more of those things." He said and the two quickly attached silencers to their weapons.

The two then started to sweep through the small store. The smell of death haunted the place, filling every corner and invading the nostrils of those who breathed in. There were several muffled shots from inside, then the two soldiers met up at the four change rooms against one wall.

Griffin made a pushing motion and Reaper nodded. Griff took up a position in front of the first door as Reaper stood beside it, his back to the wall. As his partner nodded, Reaper raised one leg up and kicked backwards hard.

The door flew open. Clear. They moved in front of the next room and they repeated it. Still empty. There was a shuffling from the next room and they instantly knew something was in it. Reaper shook his head and stepped aside as Griffin opened fire on the door, spraying it down.

A moment later there was a thud and he laid to the floor, looking at the now truly dead body.

He nodded, then looked under the remaining change room. Looked empty, but he gave it a boot anyways and looked in. It was empty.

"So, uh, why did we clear this place again?" Griff asked, getting to his feet.

"Because. We can't be taking a survivor around in her underwear, can we?" Reaper replied with a grin as he moved towards the door again.

Griffin shrugged and started after his friend, muttering. "I kinda like it."

As Reaper stepped out of the door, he cocked an eyebrow as he stared at the truck. It was surrounded by at least eight Infected. But the strange thing was, they were just standing there. Not banging on the glass like they usually would. Just standing and staring in.

"Ahem." Reaper cleared his throat loudly and the zombies turned and started to dash towards him, screaming at him. He raised his rifle and opened fire, as did Griffin as he came through the door.

All eight Infected hit the ground, put out of their misery. The two soldiers approached the truck and looked in. The blonde was sprawled half on the seat and half on the floor of the truck. She appeared to be dead.

"They were trying to figure out if she was alive?" Griffin asked. Reaper shrugged and tapped on the window. Ashley didn't move. He tapped again, harder. Still nothing. Rolling his eyes, he thumped on the window and yelled out.

"_Open up!_"

With that, Ashley sat bolt upright and looked at them, then unlocked the doors.

Reaper opened the door and motioned her out. Taking the handgun from her once more and holstering it, he nodded towards the shop.

"We cleared it out for you. Go grab some clothes and some shoes you can actually move in. We'll wait out here. Call us if you need anything." He said. The blonde smiled.

"Ooh, shopping spree!" She joked, then headed into the store. The two soldiers knelt on either side of the broken door and took up a firing position, each watching one end of the street.

Ten minutes later, Ashley reemerged from the store. "Okay. I'm ready." She said and both men looked at her. She was wearing a camouflaged shirt and a pair of tight jeans. On her feet, replacing her stiletto heels was a pair of dark blue running shoes.

"Good enough?" She asked as she pinned her hair up. "I thought I'd wear the camo to blend in with you guys." She winked.

Reaper smirked. "Alright, if you think you can move around quickly in that, it's good enough for me."

The three walked over to the Chevy S10 and got in, and once again started down the road.

As they came to an intersection, Griffin looked to the right and his eyes got much wider. "Reaper. Pedal to the metal, man. We've got lots of 'em coming."

Reaper looked, but they had gone by the intersection. "What? How many?"

"Oh, two, maybe three hundred."

This seemed to turn his partner's foot into lead. The truck leapt forward and the engine roared. Behind them, a massive crowd of the undead followed after the truck, dashing after it.

Reaper quickly changed gears on the truck and it started to pull on the zombies, putting more distance between them. He swung the truck around a corner, the tires chirping in protest. As they flew down the street, another giant crowd came at them from in front, heading them off.

"Aw, shit." Reaper said, looking right and seeing every side street was plugged with Infected. "Hang on. Off-roading time." He shifted the truck into 4x4 mode and went off the road into a park.

The truck bounced around gamely as it went over bumps and hills. In front of them was another road and they took it. "Where are we?" Reaper asked Ashley.

She looked around. "We're in the southern end of the city. Not really close to downtown, but close enough."

"Alright then. We want to head for the country..." Reaper muttered.

"Reaper. It's getting dark. We need a place to barricade ourselves for the night." Griffin said, looking at his comrade knowingly.

"You're right. Shit, hang on." Reaper said as he ran over several of the Infected. He blinked as a large truck squealed past them, going the opposite way. There were survivors inside. As it passed, several dozen Infected broke off the main group to chase after the truck.

Reaper looked in his mirror and saw the back door slide open momentarily. Inside were several survivors, one of which was incredibly fat and not looking all that great. The door then slammed closed once more.

"Where're they headed?" He asked.

Ashley looked back and bit her bottom lip. "The mall. Maybe we should head there? It might be a good place to put up a fight!"

Reaper looked in the rearview and shook his head. "Nah. With all these guys on our asses, we'd never get in the door. Too many. I don't think me and Griff could take them all down fast enough. But given enough time..." He trailed off, concentrating on the driving.

He turned left onto the freeway on-ramp. As they continued to drive, most of the zombies were giving up the chase, only a few following now, the rest going back into the town in search of easier prey.

The truck flew down the empty freeway and Reaper looked around.

"This is creepy." Griffin voiced everyone's thoughts after a few moments.

"I've never seen it this empty." Ashley whispered, clearly shocked.

Reaper looked into the rearview and squinted as headlights reflected back into his eyes.

"What the hell?" Griffin wondered, turning to look.

The vehicle pulled past them. It was a cube van and hanging off the sides were several Infected. One had dragged one of the occupants of the van out and they were currently munching on his arm.

Ashley looked away and Reaper slammed on the brakes, dropping back quickly.


	3. Running

Thanks again for the reviews. Most of the chapters will be a little short, but that's so I can keep putting them out quickly. Enjoy.

As they continued on down the freeway, they looked to either side of it. There were empty buildings, abandoned cars, and zombies running around everywhere.

"So... Reaper and Griffin. Were your parents like, gothic or something?" Ashley asked them.

"No, those are just nicknames. Lots of people in the military have them. Especially the guys with the hard to pronounce last names. Like Raz." Reaper explained.

"Oh. Well, what's your real name then?" She inquired.

Griffin and Reaper exchanged grins. "We'll tell you... when we make it outta this." Griffin said smugly.

"Oh, come on! You know my name!" She said.

"Or do we?" Reaper asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Yes! Why would I lie about my name at a time like this!" She pouted.

"Hahah, we're just playing with you." Griffin laughed. "Don't get upset. Hey Reaper, think we could stay there for the night?" He pointed out the window.

He was pointing to a garage with a heavy steel door. It looked rather well locked up.

He pulled the truck up to the garage door. He and Griffin got out and Ashley got behind the wheel, ready to drive it in quickly.

The two soldiers raised their weapons and entered the garage through the main door, which was still intact.

"So far so good." Reaper whispered. Thanks to the throat mics both were wearing, they could hear each other perfectly.

They crept quietly and slowly through the darkness, they're eyes picking up any tiny movement, listening to the most minute sound.

The front desk area of the small garage was clear. Now onto the garage itself. Amazingly enough, it too was clear. Reaper frowned. "Something's not right here." He said, and Griffin nodded in agreement.

They opened the garage door so that Ashley could pull the truck in. The headlights illuminated the dark garage and Ashley pointed out the windshield, her eyes suddenly wide.

Both soldiers turned slowly and saw what she was pointing at. In the middle of the garage was a lift. On the lift was a car. Now, they weren't just looking at the car, but rather what was coming from _inside_ the car. Blood was dripping from the doors.

Looking further up and at the read window of the car, there was massive blood splatter. It appeared that something had been torn apart inside the vehicle. Or blown up. Could've been either one the way things were going now, Griffin thought.

He looked at his comrade who was eyeing the car cautiously, but waved Ashley in nonetheless. The truck pulled in and they closed the rolling steel door. Rolling down another smaller rolling steel door, Griffin blocked the garage off from the much more readily accessible front desk.

Now they were in the pitch dark.

"Um, guys? Can we get some light here? The dark is making me nervous..." Ashley said.

"I can tell, you're crushing my hand." Reaper said calmly as he turned on the tactical light mounted on his rifle.

Ashley looked down and saw that she had gripped the soldier's gloved hand. She let go quickly, withdrawing her hand and blushed.

"Sorry about that." She muttered, busying herself with something in the truck.

Reaper watched her for a moment, then strode over to the car lift and pulled himself up onto it. He looked into the passenger window and made a face. He dropped back down to the ground, shaking his head.

"I think someone laid on a grenade in there. Interior is shredded up something fierce and there's what's left of a body in there." He said. "Not a pretty sight at all."

Griffin raised an eyebrow. He had been right about the blowing up bit. But where had that guy gotten a hold of a grenade?

"Sh! What's that?" Ashley suddenly whispered, looking around. A sound had filled the garage. The sound sounded almost like slithering. Then there was the hissing, screech of "Helllooo?" which caused everyone to jump.

"Was that a survivor?" Griffin lowered his voice so that it could barely be heard over the slight noise.

"No human talks like that. That sounded... unhuman. Like Gollum..." Reaper replied.

"Oh god, you mean they're out there?" Ashley said, looking suddenly panicked.

"Yup." Reaper replied calmly as he took off his helmet and pressed an ear against the garage door. He could hear rather clearly now. It sounded like only a small group. Manageable, he decided.

He looked back at his two colleagues with a devilish glint in his eye. He had drawn his sidearm. He pulled the slide back and let it snap forward, the sound echoing in the garage and apparently driving the undead on the other side crazy with hunger.

"We can do it." He said.

"You're fucking insane!" Ashley half-whispered, half-hissed.

"I've been told that." Reaper responded as he pointed to the driver's seat. "You drive. Just put it in reverse and floor the gas when I tell you." He said, strapping his helmet on and standing beside the bed of the truck.

Griffin got into the bed of the truck and sat down facing the rear, checking to make sure his M4 was loaded. "I hate it when you do things like this." He muttered.

"You'll love me for it when we aren't stuck in a building with a mob of them around us, now let's go." Reaper urged.

Ashley got into the truck and started it. She looked in the mirror, clearly rather scared. However, the two soldiers behind her looked grim, but not in the least bit scared. They looked ready for this. Ready to die in case they had to.

Tapping a button on the wall, the garage door began to open. The two soldiers raised their weapons to a firing position and as soon as the door was open enough, Reaper leapt into the truck bed and both opened fire, splattering zombie brains along the still opening door as the undead rushed in.

"Go! Hit the gas!" Reaper yelled. The truck only revved.

"_Put the fucker in reverse and get going_!" The two soldiers screamed in exact unison, taking down several other Infected.

The blonde shifted the truck into reverse and when she hit the gas, the truck leapt backwards, flying through the small crowd of undead currently trying to get into the garage.

She stopped out on the street, shifted into first and started driving away. The window behind her slid open and Griffin slipped into the cab, followed by Reaper who closed the window after him.

"What happened? Never driven a standard before?" He asked, leaning between the two front seats.

"I'm sorry! I panicked! I... I was..." She began to stammer, her eyes tearing up.

"Shh. It's fine. We had it under control. It's just a little freaky having thirty or so of those things trying to eat our faces." He responded with a grin.

This caused Ashley to smile as well, wiping her eyes.

Griffin looked back at Reaper. "Didn't know you had a soft side?"

"Full moon." Reaper said, pointing up. Indeed it was.

"Oh, well that explains so much." His partner said.

After a while, Ashley pulled over and let Griffin drive.

"So you guys are with the military, right?" She asked.

Reaper, sitting beside her in the back, nodded. "Yeah, we're part of a large special forces team that was deployed shortly after this all began. We were deployed across the country to the major hot spots where these outbreaks were occurring. Our objective is to eliminate the Infected and rescue any and all survivors."

He adjusted his ACU camouflage vest and took off his tactical goggles and helmet. For the first time, Ashley actually got a look at what this man looked like. He had short dark brown hair, piercing steel grey eyes, and he now had a slight five o'clock shadow.

"So why the cement mixer camo? Does it work okay?" Ashley mused.

"Well, it's standard issue. Plus, since these..." He hesitated to use the word, "Zombies can seem to smell out the living, might as well have every advantage going for us. This stuff works pretty good in urban terrain, so we're sticking with it."

"Ah, I see. Well, I've got a question." She said.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can I have a gun? I feel kinda exposed. I mean, having you two guys as my own personal bodyguards is great, but what if you guys leave me like you did back at that store?"

Reaper chuckled. "Point taken. Here, I'll let you hold onto this." He unslung his PSG-1 and handed it to her. "Now you take good care of that rifle, you hear? I've done a lot to it. Probably the most accurate rifle in the world at the moment. It's got custom rifling, the feed ramp's been polished to a mirror sheen, the sights are nuts on at 500 metres, then after that it's just a little bit of windage and elevation adjustments.

"I've made the trigger pull heavier, replaced the bolt with a custom made one, re-did the gas tubes..." Reaper told her, then trailed off, realizing she didn't have much of a clue what he was talking about. "Anyways, just aim and pull the trigger. Odds are, you'll hit what you aim at. Oh, by the way, aim at the head."

Ashley nodded. "How many bullets does it have?" She asked.

"That one's got a full mag. It's a got twenty rounds in the magazine in it right now. Come here." He said, motioning her closer. She shifted over. Reaching down to his left thigh, Reaper detached a leg pouch.

He secured two straps around her right thigh, then another one to her belt.

"There you go. Now you've got three extra magazines on you. Don't go trigger happy, cause that's all I've got for that at the moment."

She pointed to his vest, which was covered in pouches. She could see nearly two and a half dozen magazines in most of these pouches. "Then what're those?"

"5.56mm rounds. They won't fit the 7.62. They're for my M4."

"Reaper, we need gas." Griffin called back. "We're running low and it's really starting to get dark out."

"Well, that's just wonderful, isn't it?" Reaper sighed, putting his PASGT helmet on and perching his goggles on it. He climbed into the front seat and looked around. They were now well out of the city and away from most civilization.

It looked as if Griffin had turned off the freeway and started down the road towards a small town.

"Looks clear, doesn't it?" Griffin asked as all three peered around. They all jumped when something impacted with the front of the truck.

"What the hell was that?" Reaper wondered, looking around. "Turn on the lights!"

Griffin did so and slammed on the brakes. Directly in front of them was a crowd of zombies. Nothing like back in the city, but a large group none the less. They seemed to be waiting for the truck, which was no less than six feet away.

The thump they had heard was when the truck had hit one of the zombies that was further out on the road.

"Well, I think we've just encountered the townspeople."


	4. Survivors

And here's the next chapter. I won't keep you. Enjoy.

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Throwing the truck into reverse, Griffin stood on the gas pedal, sending the truck skittering backwards. The zombies in front of them began to run after the truck.

Spinning the truck quickly in a tight J-turn, Griffin gunned it the other way. Reaper spun around in the back seat and opened the back window. He took aim and started to fire, dropping several Infected before the truck turned a corner and started to speed away.

But the Infected kept pace behind the truck. Reaper continued to fire, then pulled a small cylinder off his vest.

"Fire in the hole." He said, pulling the pin on the grenade and tossing it out. It hit the ground, rolled to a stop, and then exploded, taking out several dozen zombies.

"Hey Griff, gimme those works!" Reaper said, reaching forward.

Griffin handed his partner six long tubes and Reaper pulled out a lighter.

"Are those fireworks?" Ashley asked, staring at the objects Reaper now held.

"Yeah, those things are fascinated by these things. Watch." He lit one and aimed it out the back window. It took off with a whine, then exploded above them in a red flash.

Reaper fired off several more. Behind them, the zombies slowed their pace, then stopped all together, staring up at the sky as the truck rounded another corner and disappeared. Reaper continued to fire fireworks into the air every few seconds to keep the zombies occupied.

They pulled into a gas station and the three got out. While Ashley filled the truck, the two soldiers had donned night vision goggles and were watching for more threats.

"So you guys are pretty prepared." She commented, trying to make conversation.

The two soldiers she was with seemed a little unorthodox most of the time. At least compared to the army guys she had seen in movies. But when they were faced with a threat, namely the undead roaming the streets at this point, they became the cold-blooded killers that so many soldiers are portrayed as in Hollywood.

"Well, we have to be." Griffin responded. "If we don't have what we need, then we're pretty much dead."

Reaper crept over to Griffin, tapping him on the shoulder and pointing down the street. A large group of undead was milling about, not seeming to have noticed them yet.

Reaper looked at them, then something glinted in his eye. "Do you have those fireworks with the long fuses?" He asked and Griffin looked into a bag he had with him that seemed to have quite a few fireworks in it.

"Get in the truck." Reaper ordered, grabbing a handful of fireworks. "Now." Griffin nodded and got in. Ashley dropped the gas nozzle and got in as well.

Reaper walked out into the middle of the street and stood there, facing the zombies.

He looked over towards the truck, nodding. The truck started and the zombies looked over. They saw Reaper standing there, rifle aimed straight at them. They all started to move quickly towards their prey and Reaper smirked, firing a few quick rounds into the zombie horde, lighting the fuse on the ground, then leaping into the truck bed.

The truck gunned it out of the station and down the road as the fireworks started going off.

Almost instantly the zombies slowed, then stopped, watching the fireworks. Griffin started to slow slightly but Reaper patted the roof and motioned for him to keep going. Griffin saw he had something planned, so he once again floored it.

As the zombies watched the fireworks, the long fuse snaking between their feet went unnoticed. Then it hit another tube, lying almost vertical. The fireworks in that tube ignited and shot out, flying towards the gas station.

Several bounced off the pumps, but one found its way to the gas nozzle laying on the ground. The fumes inside ignited, snaking through the pipe into the reservoir and the whole place erupted.

Reaper gave a howl from the back as he watched the explosion. "_That's _how you do things!" He yelled, smirking as he watched his handiwork.

Suddenly he was thrown back against the cab as Griffin slammed on the brakes.

"What the...?" Reaper turned and squinted as he was blinded by halogen lights.

"Who're you?" A voice demanded and the sound of a shotgun being pumped could be heard all around.

Reaper quickly aimed his rifle at the speaker, who was barely visible in the glare of the lights.

"Special Forces soldiers. We have a survivor with us. Who are you?" He demanded, snapping the rifle to semi-auto.

"We're the last survivors from that town. Are you here to rescue us?"

"Yes sir, we are. Mind turning off those high-beams?" Reaper replied, lowering his weapon and jumping out of the truck bed. The lights turned off and a man dressed in jeans and a stained white t-shirt approached him, carrying a shotgun by the middle in one hand.

He shook Reaper's hand. "Thank god! I thought we were the only ones left! We've been holed up in the theatre down a little ways. When we heard the gunfire, we headed this way to see what was up. We were actually just about to head back, but then we saw that big explosion. What was that, some new army bomb or something?"

"Uh, actually it was the gas station. I think we took out most of the Infected in the town though."

At that point, several zombies rounded the corner, alight with blazing fuel. The survivors watched them for a moment as they approached. Then the man fired a few shots from his shotgun.

"I think we should go." Reaper said. "Think we could stay where you guys are camped out for a bit?"

"Sure, it's a nice old building. Lots of supplies there."

"Then let's get a move on." Reaper replied, jumping back onto the truck bed.

Two teenagers joined him and he blinked. "You're coming with us?" He asked.

The one on the left, a tall boy with messy brown hair nodded. "Yeah. Our truck was a little cramped. The bed has this giant water tank in the back and it's hard to sit in."

"Ah, I see. Either of you ever shot a gun before?" Reaper asked as the truck started and they started to follow the much larger Ram 3500 down the road.

"Well, I shot a BB gun a few times..." The one answered while the other just shook his head.

"Hn. Well, the real thing is quite different. You'll have to start learning on one real soon with things the way they are."

The teen opposite Reaper was about to respond when something hit the side of the S10 hard, causing it to skitter slightly on the road and rock back and forth.

"The fuck was that?" Reaper asked bracing himself against the cab and standing up and looking around.

One of the teens behind him grabbed his pant leg and pulled on it, causing him to turn around.

"What is it?" He asked as he turned, then stared. Only a foot or two away from the back of the truck was a rather large zombie. Quickly glancing into the cab where Griffin and Ashley were both trying to figure out what had just happened, Reaper saw the truck was doing almost sixty.

He turned in time to see one of the Infected's legs give out and it tumbled to the ground.

He quickly fired off a shot and put it down for good. No need in risking having things like that running around. He sat down once again and knocked on the window, then motioned for them to speed up. Griffin nodded and accelerated some more.

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Yeah, the chapters are still a little short, but I'm getting them out sorta regularly lol. Review please.


	5. Almost Safe? Maybe

New chapter. Done in about an hour lol. I like how it turned out. Tell me what you think

-

The two trucks went airborne as they came over a hill and the S10 bottomed out, sending sparks flying in all directions from underneath. The truck skittered on the road as Griffin fought for control. The truck straightened out and continued to follow the big Ram.

After about five minutes of driving the Ram slowed and came even with the S10. The man with the shotgun leaned out the window and shouted over to them.

"We're about thirty seconds out! Fall in behind me and follow me exactly! We're gonna have to do some manoeuvring!" He called out. He then rolled up the window and the Ram accelerated once more, pulling in front of the S10.

Ashley reached back and knocked on the rear window, sliding it open.

"I think you guys had all better come inside here!" She suggested.

Reaper nodded and waved the two boys in through the small window. Just before he was about to climb after them he looked up and over the truck's roof and mentally slapped his forehead.

"Fuck!" He yelled, climbing into the back seat and sliding the window closed behind him.

"What? What is it?" Griffin asked, looking around quickly for any hazards.

"It's a goddamn mall!" Reaper replied, shaking his head. "I thought you guys were in a theatre?"

The one teen on Reaper's right shrugged. "Well, we are in the theatre. That's where we're all staying. The theatre just happens to be attached to the mall."

Reaper opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut as the S10 lurched to the left, following the Ram quickly down a rather narrow path between several tractor trailers. The red truck in front of them suddenly jammed on the brakes and Griffin narrowly avoided rear ending them.

"That's not good." One of the teenagers said, peering out the windshield.

"Why not?" Ashley asked, turning to look at him.

"Rob's never done that before. There must be something blocking the path."

As if in answer, a woman wearing tattered jeans and a bloody t-shirt that could have been any colour at one point, ran screaming around the Ram and straight for the little black S10, where she promptly leapt onto the hood.

"Let us in! For god's sake, let us in! There's hundreds of them! They're going to eat us all!" She shrieked.

Griffin looked back at Reaper who shook his head. The soldier shifted the truck into reverse and floored the gas. The tires squealed at the sudden movement and the woman slid off the hood on to the ground. The Ram followed suit, rolling straight over top of the crazed woman.

After a few dozen yards, both trucks stopped and sat idling.

"Do you guys have radios?" Reaper asked one of the boys.

"Yeah, there's a CB in the truck there, then we've got a lot more inside the mall."

"What channel?" He pried.

"I dunno. Seven-thirteen?"

"Seven-thirteen? Are you sure it's a CB and not a walkie?"

"What's the difference?"

"Never mind." Reaper sighed as he pulled a small Motorola from a radio pouch on his back right shoulder.

He turned it on and changed to the channel the boy had said.

"Rob, you there, over?"

"Yeah, this is Rob, who's this?" A voice crackled back, followed by a beep.

"It's Reaper. What's happening up there?"

"There's a mob of people just sitting in the road. They don't know what to do it looks like. Several are probably bitten too. What should we do?"

Reaper thought for a moment, then climbed over to the door and got out. Ashley and Griffin both gave him a questioning look. He quickly signed out what he was going to do. He pointed at himself, then towards the truck.

_I'm going to the truck._

Obvious enough. Next, he made a gun shape with one hand pointing up and rocked his thumb back and forth a few times, mimicking the action of a hammer. He then pointed forward, made a fist, then splayed all his fingers out.

"What's that mean?" Ashley asked.

"He's going to shoot into the air to try and get them to scatter." Griffin translated as they watched Reaper leap into the back of the Ram.

He unshouldered his M4, snapped the selector to full-auto, then slapped the roof. The Ram started to move quickly forward. The others followed quickly behind them.

Ahead of them was a bigger group than he had thought. There were at least thirty people just standing in the road way, watching as the two trucks bore down on them.

Aiming slightly over their heads, Reaper opened fire, the sound blasting out over the engine noise. As bullets snapped off the buildings behind them, several people got the message and moved, yet the majority remained. Still, Reaper fired, trying to get them to move.

Behind them, Griffin and Ashley watched the figure in the back of the larger truck.

"Is it working?" Ashley asked.

"I dunno. We'll know if it doesn't, though."

"How?" The blonde asked, looking at him.

Griffin gave a defeated sigh. "If he does that."

Ashley looked forward and saw Reaper turn to face the S10 and kneel down. He pressed his rifle across his chest, the barrel facing into the bed of the truck, then took the brim of his helmet in his left hand and pulled it down slightly, holding it in position.

Only a moment later the Ram shuddered slightly and bodies and gore flew over it, rolled under it, or were tossed to the sides. Ashley covered her face with her hands.

"Oh my god! They didn't move!"

Griffin glanced left and right quickly before looking forward again.

"No, some of them moved. They're taking cover against that building there."

In front of them, Reaper looked up and shook his head. He looked at his shoulder and brushed off what appeared to be a hand.

The two trucks slowed after exiting the narrow lane onto the actual road. They jumped the curb and then headed for a large gate of black, vertical iron bars. The gate swung open quickly, both trucks passed through, then they slammed closed.

Reaper looked around as they stopped. They were in a small courtyard that obviously had been used for deliveries. They were now inside.

-

Next chapter should be up soon. Review please.


	6. Breach

Well, here we go. Sorry for the long wait, but guess what, you get a much larger chapter! Should actually be two, but I'm too lazy to cut it up right now lol. Enjoy

-

The two trucks shut down and the occupants got out. Rob approached them, the shotgun rested over one shoulder casually.

"Well now, finally a chance to formally introduce myself." He said, extending a hand towards Reaper. "I'm Robert Jones. I'm a teacher at the high school here. Or at least I was before all this happened."

Reaper looked at the man's hand and nodded, giving a grunt in acknowledgement. Rob dropped his hand back to his side sheepishly.

Reaper turned to inspect the very large dent on the back of the S10 where the zombie had impacted with it and Rob saw the green triangle on his shoulder. In the triangle was a dagger pointing up and that triangle had the infamous lightning bolt edge. Above it an arch read _Special Forces_.

"You're with Delta Force?" He asked, pointing.

Reaper looked at his shoulder, then up at the man and nodded once more. Turning to him, he saluted him. "Yes sir. Sergeant First Class John "Reaper" Bragg, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. My squad was sent into this area to aid in the evacuation of survivors and to eliminate the Infected threat."

Rob looked at Griffin. "What about you? Are you with Delta Force too?"

Griffin nodded. "Staff Sergeant Tom "Griffin" Moore, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta."

Reaper sighed and turned to Rob. He didn't like introductions.

"Well now. Show us around this place. I want to know any tactical advantage we may have."

Rob nodded and the group followed him into the theatre. Rob pointed to the twelve sets of double doors to the right down a hallway. "We're using the theatres as bunk rooms. We've modified the chairs so that they lie flat and they work rather well as cots."

They continued through the lobby where a about three people were milling about.

"How many of you are here?" Reaper asked, adjusting his M4's sling.

"There's twelve of us. We all met up here when this started. There were more, but not everyone made it..." He trailed off as he lead them down a short staircase. They were now into the mall, which was rather large.

As they entered the bright light of the hallway, Reaper looked at Rob. He was about five foot nine, brown hair, brown eyes, fairly well built.

'Gym teacher.' He thought, looking away. Ashley was wide eyed. She had never been in any mall when it was totally empty, especially not with every store wide open. He leaned closer to her.

"Don't even think about going off on your own. If you wanna go anywhere, tell me." He muttered.

Ashley looked at him with her dark blue eyes and saw Reaper's steel grey ones watching her with some emotion in them. It was a protective look. He had been assigned to protect the survivors he found and that was exactly what he was going to do, the look said.

She nodded. "Alright. I won't."

This seemed to appease the soldier and he again went about looking around the mall. Ashley blinked and looked between Reaper and Griffin. This was the first time she had gotten to see both of them clearly.

Reaper stood at about six foot two and Griffin was about six-four. Griffin had short sandy blonde hair and light blue eyes. Both were incredibly fit and they both had the same intense stare as their eyes scanned around the mall, Rob in front of them chunnering away about what was what.

As she observed the two soldiers, her leg caught on something and she stopped and looked down. The magazine pouch Reaper had given her had snagged on a small sign. She worked the pouch free and as she stepped away, she looked at the sign.

It was for the deli it was sitting in front of and it read: _Fresh deli sandwiches daily. Dozens of buns and meats!_

It was here that she realized her stomach was growling. She hadn't eaten anything since this had started earlier this morning. It seemed like years ago now.

'Well, what could it hurt? Those people have been here all day, so I doubt anything's in there.' She thought, walking into the store. It was brightly lit up at the entrance, but as she progressed to the counter, she noticed it was very dark.

'Someone turned off the lights...' She told herself. Then the smell hit her.

"Ew! That's _definitely _not fresh meat." She said out loud, taking a step backwards. She jumped and gave a short scream when she bumped into something hard. Turning quickly she felt her arms gripped by strong hands and she came face to face with those piercing eyes.

"I thought I told you not to go off by yourself?" Reaper said.

Ashley sighed heavily in relief and let herself lean against Reaper. "I'm sorry. I just realized that I was really hungry, and I _am_ rather partial to deli sandwiches... Sorry."

She looked up and found Reaper looking over her at something behind the counter.

"You were quite lucky." He said, letting go of her arms. He sidestepped and raised his rifle, flicking on the tactical light.

She turned and gasped when she saw the gruesome face peering out at her from behind the glass case of buns. It growled and moved a little. Reaper took her by one arm and guided her slowly over to him and he pointed behind the counter.

"No legs." He said. Ashley looked and saw that the zombie indeed had no legs but was struggling gamely to try and get over the counter to them.

The Delta soldier drew his M9 bayonet, moved forward, and drove it downwards. The zombie's skull seemed to part with ease for the razor sharp blade and it stopped it's growling. He pulled the knife out easily, wiping the gore off onto a paper towel he pulled off the counter.

He sheathed the knife then leapt over the counter and kicked the corpse out of the way.

"Rule number two. Don't go into the dark. It hides these things too well. Now, what did you want on that sandwich?"

Ashley smirked at him. "So what, you go from killer soldier to friendly waiter in two seconds?"

"Full moon." Reaper reminded her with a grin of his own.

The two exited the small deli a few minutes later, each chewing on a sandwich.

Griffin frowned. "What the hell? You go in there to get the girl and you come out with food? Where's mine?"

His partner tossed him a wrapped sandwich, seeming to content him.

"So, do you guys have any questions about this place?" Rob asked.

Griffin and Reaper both looked at each other, then at Rob. "Yeah. Where's the nearest department store?"

Rob pointed down a long hallway. "It's at the end that way. It has big windows into the parking lot and there seem to be a lot of those things out there, so we didn't risk going in."

Reaper and Griffin looked down the hall, then looked at each other, nodding. "Alright. You know where to find us if you need us." Reaper said and the two started off down the hall.

"Wait!" Ashley exclaimed, catching up to them. They stopped and turned.

"What is it?" Reaper asked.

"I want to go with you guys." She said, then leaned in close. "I don't really trust these guys." She added in a whisper.

Reaper looked at her and she nodded, then he looked up at Rob, who was watching them with mild interest.

"Alright. Come on." He relented, turning and beginning down the hall once more. Behind them, Rob gave a smirk and returned to the theatre.

As they passed by a store front, Reaper stopped and his two colleagues looked at him.

"What is it?" Griffin asked.

He nodded towards the store. "In." He said simply and walked through the doorway. Griffin and Ashley exchanged confused looks and followed him in.

"Reaper, why are we in a clothes store? I thought we wanted the department store?" Ashley asked, curiously watching the sergeant root through a rack.

He pulled out a black leather jacket, held it up in front of her, looked, shook his head, and went back to looking. He pulled out a smaller, yet identical jacket, held it in front of her, nodded to himself and handed it to her.

"Put that on. I want you in layers. The Infected can't bite through thick clothing and break the skin." He explained, walking over to another rack and looking through it.

"Oh, is that why? Or do you just want to see what I look like in leather?"

"Could be both." He responded, sorting through sets of pants.

"Reaper, what the hell are you up to? I've never seen you this eager to get a woman in leather or this eager to be in a clothes store." Griffin asked him.

"Full moon." Reaper and Ashley both responded, causing Griffin to raise an eyebrow. Finally Reaper gave up with the pants.

"Your jeans are gonna have to do for now. We'll grab you something better when we get where we want to be. Okay, _now_ let's go." Reaper decided and left the store, Ashley and Griffin following closely behind.

As they neared the department store, they could already see movement through the shelves. They were just outside the bay windows in the store in front of them. They moved quickly out of sight.

"This isn't good. If they see us, they'll smash the windows and rush in. And I'm going to guess that there's a lot of stuff in there that we need?" Ashley said.

Griffin nodded and looked around. After a moment, his gaze fixed on something and he grinned. He took off across the hall, sliding the last few feet. He then flattened himself against the wall and disappeared into a store.

"What the...?" Reaper wondered, watching his partner dash down an aisle in the store.

The two watched the store front for a moment, then watched as something slid quickly over to them. It was a mirror.

"What's this for?" Reaper asked, motioning down, as Griffin appeared at the store's entrance holding to large full length mirrors.

"Well, when I was spotting for you, I noticed the Infected didn't bother with mirrors, even with survivors hiding behind them." Griffin explained as he walked over to them, holding the mirrors facing the windows.

"Really?" Reaper asked, raising an eyebrow and Griffin nodded. "Hm. Didn't notice that."

"That's because you were too busy splattering Infected brains around." Griffin said, handing Ashley a mirror.

"Oh, so I was." Reaper muttered as he shouldered his rifle and hefted the mirror. "Let's go then."

Holding their mirrors, the three entered the department store and slowly made their way down several aisles, always with their mirrors facing towards the crowd of Infected.

"Where are we going?" Ashley asked. "This thing is heavy and my arms are getting tired!"

"Almost there." Reaper assured. A moment later, both soldiers stopped and leaned their mirrors against a shelf. Ashley watched as they crouched down and quickly dashed behind a counter.

She looked over the counter and saw what they had come for. Behind a sheet of glass were bullets. Boxes of them. And behind another pane of glass to the right of the bullets were guns. Shotguns, hunting rifles, and knives.

She leaned her mirror against the shelf as well and joined the two soldiers behind the counter where they were crouched. Griffin was currently busy picking the lock on the glass that he had slid down and Reaper was looking towards the zombies, rifle raised and at the ready.

The lock gave a click and Griffin tossed it out of the way, sliding the glass open. He quickly ran his hand along the boxes of ammunition and selected several boxes.

"What are you doing? Why don't you just grab all of them?" Ashley asked.

"We're only using four calibers here. No need to mix up the ammunition and confuse ourselves. We only need .223, .308, .45, and soon to be twelve gauge." Griffin explained as he packed the boxes away into a drop pouch.

He shifted position and tapped Reaper on the shoulder and the two changed positions. Reaper grabbed the rest of the ammunition they needed, then shifted over to the next shelf and pried the lock off with his knife.

As soon as he opened it, he started to pull the weapons off the rack and layed them all on the ground. Griffin shifted over to where Ashley was kneeling.

"Go to where I just was and watch the Infected. Don't let them see you, just keep an eye on them." He instructed, and the woman complied, moving over. Griffin then went about removing the trigger locks on all the weapons.

The two soldiers quickly loaded the shotguns, loaded the hunting rifles, then set them against the counter and went about collecting the knives.

Ashley looked back over her shoulder. "What about that one?" She asked, pointing up.

The two soldiers looked up and smirked.

"That's a pellet gun, sweetheart. Won't do much against them." Reaper said, motioning towards the zombies.

"Oh." She said simply, looking back at the zombies.

Behind her there was a scuffling sound and when she turned around, the two soldiers were putting the weapons into a large hockey bag.

"Where'd you get that?" She wondered out loud, looking around.

"The aisle right across from us. We're in the sporting goods section." Reaper replied as he slung the bag over his shoulder and darted across to the mirrors. He stopped as he was about to reach for the mirror.

"Griffin, how many of these can you get?" He asked.

"Well, as many as the store carries, I guess. Why?" Griffin responded.

Reaper indicated the windows. "If we block those with mirrors, we'll be pretty much free to move about in here as we please, right?"

"Yeah, maybe. Good plan. You wanna cover me while I get some?" Griffin asked and Reaper nodded.

Griffin started off and moved the long way around the store, keeping out of sight and then dashing out the door.

Ashley tapped Reaper on the shoulder and he turned.

"Yeah?" The blonde was pointing behind them.

"There's a decoration section behind us and it has mirrors in it. I've been shopping here with my friends a few times." She said.

"Really? Well, that makes life easier. Wait, why come here when you live near that other mall? The one you said those people in the truck were headed for?" Reaper asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Sales." Ashley said simply with a smirk. "So, are you gonna help me get those mirrors or not?"

Reaper nodded and shouldered his M4 into a ready position.

The two of them moved quickly around the store in a wide arc, coming up to a set of aisles. Ashley smirked as she turned to face Reaper. "See what I mean?" She said, indicating the long hall of mirrors.

"Oh yeah, I see what you mean..." Reaper muttered, then started to move down the hall.

He started pulling mirrors off the walls and out of boxes and setting them in a shopping cart that was sitting abandoned in the aisle. He pushed this over to Ashley and grabbed the biggest mirror he could find. In this case, one two metres high and almost three wide.

He looked at his blonde colleague. "Who needs a mirror this big?" He asked.

"It's made to cover a wall. Lots of people have them." She told him matter-of-factly.

Reaper just shrugged and walked in front of the cart with the mirror held out in front of them.

Griffin entered the store and caught up to them, dragging a trolley behind him loaded with mirrors.

"So you're sure they aren't gonna notice shiny, reflective things moving around?" Reaper asked as they closed in on the big bay windows.

"I hope not. The mirrors they saw weren't moving, but I don't think they'll notice." Griffin replied and the two others could only hope he was right.

They moved closer to the glass and as they came closer, the banging on the glass began.

They all stopped and Griffin took one of the smaller mirrors and stuck it out close to the floor, looking towards the windows. He pulled back quickly.

"We have to go now. Looks like they do notice moving, shiny objects." He stated blandly.

Reaper rolled his eyes and leaned the mirror against the windows and the three took off towards the store's entrance, Griffin sliding to a skittering halt halfway there and grabbing the hockey bag full of guns and ammunition and then running once more.

When he caught up to the others, they heard the distinct sound of glass shattering, and then the moans began. Reaper looked up and saw the security gate hanging out from its roller.

"Grab on!" He exclaimed, jumping up and pulling down. The gate had been kept in place by its small electric motor, making it much harder to pull it down. All three were basically hanging off the cage-like object, pulling down as best they could, the Infected drawing ever closer.

"Come... on!" Reaper grunted, swinging his legs in an attempt to gain some momentum.

"They're getting closer!" Ashley said, looking at the shapes moving quickly through the aisles.

"Abandon this position and set up a defence in another store?" Griffin suggested, basically bouncing up and down while holding the gate.

Reaper growled and dropped down, pulling a shotgun from the bag. He quickly walked over to the side of the gate's roller and fired one shot. The motor that was holding it locked in one position was blown apart and the whole thing unrolled quickly, sending Griffin and Ashley sprawling on the floor.

"Sorry. Should've warned you. Now come on, that won't hold for long." He said and the three picked up their things and dashed down the hall.

-

Heh. Didn't think I'd let "them" in so soon, did you? Ah, I love keeping you guys guessing. What happens next? Well, you'll have to wait and see, but I will tell you it involves a banana and a jerry can of diesel. No, wait, no it doesn't. Anyways, look for the next chapter soon!


	7. Pit Stop

Ah, the edited version of Chapter 7. Not too much has changed. A few things here and , you'll notice that the end of the chapter has changed. And also, my story has been chopped down a few chapters. I was not happy at all with the direction I was going, and so, to save the story, I've gone back and re-edited and re-thought a lot. So, prepare for a new direction! Just so you don't get lost, I suggest you read Chapter 6 and 7 once more to clear the memories of other chapters and hopefully to re-familiarize yourself! NOW! Onwards to Chapter 7!

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**

** - Pit Stop  
**

"So what do we do now?" Ashley asked as they sprinted. Reaper pointed left.

"In there, quick!" He shouted, and the three dashed into a store.

They looked around. It was a sporting goods store. Reaper pointed to three large hiking packs. "Grab those, then follow me. We have some stuff we need to grab real fast." He ordered and they all grabbed one.

They followed Reaper over to a clothes rack against one wall that was mostly full of camouflage.

"Find your sizes, grab as much of it as you can. We're gonna need some extra clothes." He told them, pulling a few off the rack and rolling them up, then stuffing them into the pack. He shifted over one shelf and grabbed a few pairs of boots and tossed them into the hockey bag along with the long guns.

The other two finished up grabbing their clothes and met up with Reaper who was now behind the counter, crouched down and sorting through a large box.

"What do you have there?" Griffin asked. His partner started tossing small boxes onto the counter.

"MREs. Good to have now. Start loading them." He said from his crouched position.

"What are MREs?" Ashley asked, stuffing a few of the boxes into her pack.

"Meal Ready to Eat. It's a field ration, basically." Griffin explained, following Reaper as he moved quickly to the back of the store. The First Sergeant was now dumping flares into his pack, along with emergency smoke signals, and other emergency gear, a few compasses and some maps and charts included.

Griffin looked around a little while his comrade pulled Ashley over and started filling her pack with things. His eyes lingered on something.

"Hey Reaper, I think I just found something that's gonna give us an extra minute or two." He said and the other soldier looked up at him. He followed his friend's gaze and saw the row of air tanks sitting against the wall.

"What are those going to do?" Ashley asked.

"Ever see on those air freshener cans where it says contents under pressure?" Griffin asked and the blonde nodded.

"Well, if the pressure is release too quickly, it explodes. I think you can guess the rest." He finished with a grin and Ashley raised her eyebrows.

He then grabbed two tanks and ran outside with them. He ran back and repeated this twice. Then he came in for the final time.

"They're all set." He said and Reaper shouldered his pack.

"So are we. Let's get moving."

The three ran out from the store and got a few more yards down the hall before the sound of the security gate crashing down reached their ears. Reaper slid and landed on his stomach, facing the way the zombies were coming from.

"Covering! Go!" He yelled to the other two, who continued to run down the hall.

A few seconds later a gunshot rang out, followed by a large explosion. The glass in dozens of stores around them all shattered. A moment after that, Reaper had caught up with them.

"Get to the truck, that's only gonna slow them down a little. Those crazies out front were right. There's hundreds of them. I really wasn't expecting that!" He explained as they ran. As they neared the movie theatre, they found the security gate was closed and locked down, Reaper looked at Ashley.

"You were right about not liking them. Out the front door then?"

She nodded and the three turned and started quickly for the mall's main doors. The doors turned out to be locked, but they could see the courtyard through them.

A few gunshots later and more broken glass and the three were outside and climbing over the wall to where the two trucks were being kept. Except all was not as they had left it. Beside the S10 were six jerry cans of gas and a woman siphoning more gas from the small truck into other jerry cans. She jumped, spilling a little gas, when there was a gunshot behind her.

Reaper growled when she turned to face him, the M4's barrel stuck right in her face. She immediately fled the scene back into the movie theatre, locking the door behind her.

Then the shooting from inside began. It was loud, even from outside.

"Pour that gas back in, Griff. Ashley, take Griffin's rifle and help me cover him. They'll be coming out here soon." Reaper said. Griffin handed Ashley his M4 and started pouring the fuel back into the S10 while Reaper and Ashley moved to the gate and readied themselves.

A few moments later, the shuffling of the Infected became audible from over the walled in compound.

"They're coming!" Ashley whispered over to Reaper, who nodded and backed into the shadows. Ashley watched the soldier from Delta Force as he peered over the wall, then dropped back down.

"We've got twenty seconds, then they've swarmed the gate and we're stuck." He said, moving quickly towards the truck. Griffin was on the fourth jerry can.

"How long?" Reaper asked.

"Little more than twenty seconds. Mind giving me some cover?" Griffin asked.

"Roger that. Pour faster." Reaper responded, then scrambled to the top of the wall. From there, he aimed downward and held the trigger down, then swung his rifle around in an arc, spraying speeding lead onto the heads of the Infected below.

Dropping the magazine from the rifle, he quickly jammed a new one into position and snapped the bolt forward, then resumed firing.

"Grab that mag!" He yelled to Ashley, then pointed at the empty magazine on the ground. Ashley ran over quickly and picked it up, pocketing it. As she did this, the M4 stopped firing and she looked up.

Reaper had slung his rifle across his back and had drawn his sidearm. The .45 opened fire. Griffin gave a sharp whistle from behind.

"Reaper! Let's move!" He shouted, and his comrade jumped off the wall, grabbed Ashley by the arm, then ran towards the truck. The three tossed their packs and the large hockey bag into the back of the truck and then got into the cab.

Reaper started the truck, shifted into reverse, then pounded the gas, flying backwards out of the compound and smashing through the gate. Slamming on the brakes and spinning the wheel, the soldier performed a tight J-turn and the truck came to a stop facing the other way.

The engine revved a few times and then the truck leapt forward, flying down the road away from the mall.

As he drove, Reaper reached into the drop pouch on his vest and handed Ashley two boxes of 5.56mm rounds, then dropped the magazine from his rifle and handed it to her as well. "Here, fill up these mags, if you wouldn't mind." He said, then handed his handgun to Griffin with a box of .45 ACP rounds.

"And top that up." He finished.

"So where are we going?" Ashley asked as she pushed the bullets into the first magazine.

"Well, I figured we'd head out into the country a little further and see if we can find some more survivors. If not, we're headed for Bragg." Reaper replied.

"Bragg? That's a fair ways away, Reaper. Why not Fort Pastor?" Griffin said as he loaded the last bullet into the Mark 23's magazine, then thrust it into the magwell and snapped the slide forward. He handed the weapon back to Reaper, who holstered it.

Ashley placed the first loaded magazine on the seat beside her and reached forward, taking Reaper's rifle. She looked over it, turning it over in her hands, looking through the sights, and checking the breech.

"Looks like you know what you're doing with that thing." Reaper claimed, looking over at the small blonde girl.

"My dad used to hunt, and he had a rifle sorta like this. I'm used to it." She explained, still rotating the weapon in her hands.

"Isn't this a little heavy to be moving around with all the time?" She asked.

"Not at all. That thing is a lot lighter than other weapons, even with all the modifications on it. The ELCAN, laser, and tac light weigh only a few pounds all together. All the internals are totally modified. With the C-mag on it, it'll weigh more though."

"C-mag?" Ashley asked, looking up from the weapon.

"Dual drum magazine. Holds a hundred rounds in it. I've got two on me at the moment, but they're both in my pack." Reaper explained.

"At least I don't have to load those." Ashley placed the butt of the rifle on the floor of the truck and leaned it on the seat between her legs, then continued to load the second magazine.

They drove in silence for the next twenty minutes. As they were driving down a road that cut through a forest, Ashley broke that silence.

"Guys?" She said, somewhat timidly.

Reaper looked at her in the rearview. "Yeah?"

"Can you stop the car?"

"Why?" The soldier asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I need to pee."

The two soldiers looked at each other, then Reaper pulled to one side of the road and put the truck in park. He reached back and took his rifle, loading one of the full magazines and putting the second into a pouch on his vest along with the others.

He got out and opened Ashley's door. "Alright, go ahead." He said, as she got out. Griffin got out of the truck as well and went to the side of the road, where he stood with his rifle, watching the woods on the opposite side of the road.

Ashley made her way a short distance into the woods, then stopped. Reaper walked past her. "Excuse me? What're you doing? Can I have some privacy?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm moving a little bit ahead of you. I'm gonna be looking this way, watching for the Infected." The Delta soldier replied, walking further, then stopping about twenty feet away, his back to the blonde.

"You aren't going to look?"

He said nothing, only watching the woods and listening for anything out of the ordinary.

Ashley sighed and made her way into a group of bushes, just in case.

Reaper sighed. It had been a long day. Too long. How could this have happened? One minute, he was sitting in the barracks common room, talking to some friends, the next, he's fully geared up, riding on an MC-130H out to Wisconsin to quell a riot. That was the strange part. None of the Delta force members knew why _they_ were being dispatched to a riot.

They were briefed on the plane to Wisconsin. The riot was out of control, and spread throughout the city. The local police force was stretched too thin, and couldn't contain it all, so military help was brought in. When asked why the National Guard wasn't just deployed, the CO merely commented that the situation called for "some more finesse." From the airport, the soldiers disembarked the plane and onto one of eight MH-6 Little Bird helicopters waiting for them on the tarmac.

The ride from the airport on the MH-6 really showed how volatile the situation was. It was around 7 AM, with the sun just beginning to rise, and already they could see the smoke rising into the air as parts of the city burned. The suburbs that skirted the city didn't seem affected yet, but the destruction seemed to be branching towards the unsuspecting homes. The eight helicopters separated at that point, flying to different positions.

Reaper and Griffin were dropped off on the roof of an office building, where they would be providing sniper support to a police barricade set up on the road below them. Quickly heading to the edge of the building, Reaper set up his rifle and gazed through the scope. Below him he could see the rioters.

Wait... What was wrong with them? Why were they missing limbs? Were they doing what he thought they were doing to those people? Were they...?

The sound of a snapping twig brought Reaper back to reality. His rifle was quickly in the firing position, aimed at where the sound had come from. He backed away a few steps.

"Ashley, hurry up. We may have company." He called back.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he glanced back quickly to see Ashley beside him, cautiously looking towards the same bush he was aiming at.

He quickly placed himself between the bush and Ashley protectively. As he did, he stepped on a small twig himself, causing it to snap.

The sound seemed to startle whatever was in the bushes, as it took off in the opposite direction. Reaper and Ashley both watched the small deer bound through the woods and they both sighed.

"Too close..." Ashley muttered to herself as she rested her head against Reaper's shoulder.

"Looks like we've got a little more relaxing time." He said. "All done?"

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, all done."

"Good." Reaper said. "We'd better get back on the road."

And with that, the two quickly headed back for the truck.

* * *

ALRIGHT! So! That was my newly edited chapter 7. Hopefully you liked it! I'm working on Chapter 8 as we speak, and I hope to have it up in either a few hours or within a day or two. Review, please! Let me know what ya all think!


	8. Changes? What's That You Say?

And thus, the hiatus comes to an end! I have re-edited chapter 7, and you'll notice that I removed MANY chapters. As explained in my header in Pit Stop, I was not happy where the story was heading, and have decided to change it! Read up, review, let me know what you think! Chapter 8 is on it's way!


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